Missiles Hitting Producer of 0.04% of Global Oil Rocks Crude

While Syria makes only 0.04 percent of global petroleum supplies — less than Cuba, New Zealand or Pakistan — it calls one of the world’s biggest producing regions its neighborhood. The nation borders Iraq, the second-biggest member in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, while other producing giants such as Saudi Arabia and Iran lie just beyond. The Turkish port of Ceyhan, from where shipments including those from Kurdistan are exported, is also close. Apart from its proximity to the Middle East nations, the ongoing conflict in Syria involves Russia and the U.S., two other major crude producers. Global oil prices jumped more than 2 percent on Friday on news the U.S. launched a cruise missile attack against the nation, two days after Bashar al-Assad’s regime used poison gas to kill scores of civilians. The task of military planners was made riskier by the presence of Russian forces in […]